15 February 11

From Rust to Thrust

With old cotton mills transformed into film studios, art galleries, museums and hotels, Lodz is reinventing itself as Poland's cultural centre. And now's the time to go.

Turning to its industrial heritage, the Polish city of Lodz is reinventing itself. Anna J. Kutor visits the dream factory. Photography by Tim White

One recent afternoon, a hearty group of shoppers wandered through the snow-covered market square of Manufaktura, a mammoth culture-entertainment- trade complex in the heart of Lodz. They walked past high-end clothing boutiques and restaurants, stationed in what used to be a weaving mill filled with 200 imported British looms, past sweet shops and home-decor outlets that have set up shop in a once- bustling mechanical workshop.

Further down the plaza, past the old electric plant turned into a multi- storey disco, other visitors ducked into a bowling alley and a chic fitness club that was formerly a textile-bleaching house. Clearly, this is no run-of- the-mill neighbourhood. Indeed, Manufaktura (www.manufaktura.com) is an architectural Sleeping Beauty story, part of a fairytale of how a once-industrial city rose from its rust- filled roots to become a hub of artistic and innovative entrepreneurial activity.

Lodz (pronounced “woodge”), Poland’s third-largest city, is two-and- a-half hours south-west of Warsaw. While not as well known as the capital or Krakow, its cultural diversity and tenacious spirit are slowly seeing it rise to the fore. The movie-making HQ of Poland, its famed film school has launched the careers of folks like Andrzej Wajda, Roman Polanski and Krzysztof Zanussi. It’s also home to Piotrkowska Street, said to be Europe’s longest pedestrian thoroughfare.

This 4km stretch is lined with ornate townhouses, eating and entertainment options, and bronze statues honouring people such as pianist Artur Rubinstein and Nobel Prize-winning author Wladyslaw Reymont. But what rightly attracts the most attention in Lodz are the relics of its industrial heritage, many of which have roared back to life in recent years.

“A lot of experimentation and risk-taking went into breathing new life into these historic bricks,” says Agnieszka Nowak, marketing manager of Manufaktura. The sprawling labyrinth of warehouses dates back to the mid-19th century when cotton was king and Lodz, as the cradle of Poland’s textile production, was rocking to the rhythm of high- speed industrial development.

Designed to be a “city within a city” by Izrael Poznanski, one of the pioneering patriarchs of the local textile kingdom, the 27ha establishment encompassed a hospital, school, fire station, church and a housing estate for thousands of workers alongside the textile manufacturing facilities. These cathedrals of steam attracted an influx of skilled German, Russian, Polish and Jewish settlers and further upped the city’s prestige as an industrial powerhouse.

After decades of intense growth, production fever petered out with the onset of war. Nationalisation and economic woes ensured the slow decay of the vast urban complex.

By the time Poland broke out of the Soviet straightjacket, Manufaktura had become a hollow shell of its former self.

Then, at the cusp of the new millennium, French developer Apsys took on the task of reinventing the jumble of dilapidated bricks as a historically sensitive cultural and commercial hub. Harnessing the architectural vision of Frenchman Jean-Marc Pivot and Andrzej Mrowiec, the ambitious three-year project involved the cleaning of over 50,000m2 of red brick in the 13 heritage-listed buildings, and the renovation of gothic, Rundbogenstil and art nouveau features. Contemporary structures were also added, as well as an open-ended market square with a 300m-long musical fountain in the centre. “It bonds the city’s treasured past and the promising future, and creates a vibrant space that keeps evolving and growing along with the local community,” says Nowak.

One of the more eye-catching spots is ms² (www.msl.org.pl), an art centre occupying a restored weaving mill on the western fringe of the complex. Opened in 2008, this three-storey locale gives a permanent home to a large chunk of the collection from Muzeum Sztuki, the oldest modern art museum in the world after MoMA in New York. Apart from seeing the exhibitions – like Polish avant-garde icon Wladyslaw Strzeminski (until 27 February) – you can soak up the cool vibes in the airy ground-floor bookshop and coffee house.

An equally artistic interplay of industrialism and 21st-century design is seen at andel’s Hotel – written with small ‘a’ – (www.andelslodz.com), Manufaktura’s newest addition, poised next to the art museum.

The high-tech reworking of this derelict spinning mill came courtesy of UK interior design team Jestico + Whiles, who combined existing vaulted ceilings, Victorian brickwork and cast-iron elements with colour-shifting neon-light fixtures and sculptural furnishings. If you like the building so much you want to stay in Lodz permanently, a similarly huge mill close by has been spectacularly revamped into loft apartments.

Another fine example of urban recycling that has enriched the city’s cultural fabric is Lodz Art Center (www.lodzartcenter. com), which first opened in 2005. Though currently undergoing further refurbishment, its exhibitions are being shown at different venues in the city while this takes place. LAC’s red-brick domain – previously a part of cotton kingpin Karol Scheibler’s empire – has dusted down the grime and stepped back into the spotlight as a collaborative artist-incubator for the evolving creative community. Once work is finished, the centre will continue to host envelope-pushing exhibits, educational workshops and conferences like previous hits the Lodz Design Festival and Fokus Lodz Biennale. In May, check out the International Photography Festival (being held in the White Factory).

“Ten years ago there wasn’t much to talk about in terms of tourism, because there was no infrastructure nor real attractions for foreigners here,” says Tomasz Koralewski, associate director of the regional tourism organisation. “The revitalisation of forlorn factories and the exciting exchange between industry and art has made a huge impact. This has created a sense of place, lots of new venues for tourists to visit, and a more service-oriented identity for the city.”

What is bound to add a further layer of lustre to Lodz’s cultural profile – and an economic boost – is the EC1 development (www.ec1lodz.pl).

A sweeping inner-city regeneration scheme overseen by municipal authorities, it started in 2007 and is scheduled for completion in 2013.

Intended to re-energise the urban tissue around culture, leisure and tourism, this multimillion-euro undertaking involves the overhaul of a 90ha zone around Lodz Fabryczna railway station and the blighted buildings of the EC1 thermal power plant. Luxembourg architect Rob Krier designed the concept for a transportation hub and Special Art Zone, which includes a new town square and a cylinder-shaped glass Modern Art Centre acting as a dynamic platform for cultural exchange. The EC1 West structures will be adapted into an interactive science and technology area, while the eastern art-deco facilities will be converted into a centre containing a sound studio, the film studio of cult US director David Lynch and other projects connected to cinematography. “Starchitect” and Lodz native Daniel Libeskind will also stamp his architectural imprint on the new large-scale festival- congress centre.

Putting the creative industry at the forefront of the downtown development is an important stepping stone in unlocking new opportunities in Lodz, explains EC1 project manager Pawel Zuromski. “It will lead to a fundamental shift in the city’s economic base, because creative industries are laboratories not only for artistic but for managerial and technical innovation too. It will mark a new chapter in the city’s high-powered progress.”

FOR MORE ON LODZ, VISIT HTTP://EN.UML.LODZ.PL